Establishment of Blood Screening Protocols for Collegiate and Endurance Athletes

The goal of this action research proposal is to establish blood screening for endurance athletes at the college, which the researcher is employed at as there is currently no system in place by which the athletic department, athletic training room, and health center work together to screen athletes that exhibit symptoms of non-anemic iron deficiency.

The standard testing protocols to determine anemia at most health centers do not adequately diagnose non-anemic iron deficiency in elite endurance athletes.

There is a need for standard testing protocols at the college health centers for accurate diagnosis of non-anemic iron deficiency in elite endurance athletes.

Literature Review

The work of Eichner (2001) entitled "SSE #81: Anemia and Blood Boosting" states that athletes, "especially endurance athletes, tend to have slightly low hemoglobin levels as judged by general population norms." Eichner reports that low blood hemoglobin...
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